Methods and systems for inspecting plants for contamination

ABSTRACT

A method of inspecting plants for contamination includes generating a first series of images of a plant using a camera mounted to a frame being moved along a planting bed by a harvester, identifying a region of interest displayed in the first series of images as a region of contamination on the plant based on a color criterion and a morphological criterion applied to the region of interest, and transmitting data including an instruction to increase a vertical distance between the plant and a cutter of the harvester to avoid harvesting the plant in response to identifying the region of interest as the region of contamination. The method further includes generating a second series of images of an additional plant as the frame continues to be moved along the planting bed by the harvester while the vertical distance between the plant and the cutter is being increased.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation in part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 15/206,753, entitled “Inspecting Plants For Contamination,”filed Jul. 11, 2016, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to inspecting plants for contamination, and moreparticularly to preventing contact between contaminated plants andharvesting equipment.

BACKGROUND

Harvesting leafy vegetable plants typically involves moving a harvester(e.g., an automated harvester) across a field under the guidance of anoperator steering the harvester and visually inspecting plants that areharvested from the field for contamination by other personnel riding onthe harvester. Sunlight and warm temperatures during the daytime cancause some leafy vegetable plants (e.g., baby green vegetable plants) tobecome tender and pliable and to wilt, rendering a stature of the plantsas less than optimal for cutting by a harvester. Accordingly, harvestingoperations are often performed on some leafy vegetable plants at night,when the plants are stiffer and tend to stand taller and more erect. Asa harvester moves along a field during a harvesting operation, anoperator looks ahead of the harvester to scan the field for contaminatedplants. In some cases, personnel may walk the field before theharvesting operation (e.g., during the daytime) to search forcontaminated plants. The personnel may mark the contaminated plants(e.g., with flags or other markers) so that the operator is alerted tothe contaminated plants during a subsequent harvesting operation.

If the operator of the harvester recognizes contaminated plants, thenthe operator may attempt to avoid harvesting the contaminated plants bysteering the harvester around the contaminated plants to prevent thecutter from contacting the contaminated plants. Limited visibility inthe dark can sometimes result in contaminated plants being overlooked orin contaminated plants being identified too slowly, such that thecontaminated plants are cut by the harvester. If the operator or thepersonnel riding on the harvester discover that contaminated plants havebeen harvested, then the contaminated plants are discarded and theharvester has to be shut down and decontaminated (e.g., disinfected orsterilized) before harvesting can resume. Similarly, if contaminatedplants are discovered at a processing plant (e.g., post-harvest), thenthe contaminated plants and all in-process plants are discarded and aprocessing line has to be shut down and decontaminated. Suchcontamination incidents occurring at a harvester or at a processing linecan result in costly expenses and significant dangers to food safety.

SUMMARY

The invention involves a realization that improvements in inspectingplants (e.g., leafy vegetable plants) for contamination in an automatedmanner can improve a yield of a harvesting operation by preventingdowntime of harvesting machinery and reducing product rejection (e.g.,preventing contamination of previously harvested plants). Such automatedinspections advantageously provide large amounts of accurate informationthat successfully identifies contaminated plants in real time based onimage analyses. A plant inspection system configured to perform suchinspections can allow a field to be harvested efficiently and duringperiods of limited visibility (e.g., at night) while avoiding dangerouscontamination of previously harvested plants such that food safety ismaintained and while avoiding costly shutdowns and decontaminations of aharvester or of a downstream (e.g., post-harvest) processing line (e.g.,at a processing plant).

One aspect of the invention features a method of inspecting plants forcontamination. The method includes generating a first series of imagesof a plant disposed along a planting bed using a camera mounted to aframe being moved along the planting bed by a harvester, identifying aregion of interest displayed in the first series of images from featureboundary data defined by color regions associated with the first seriesof images, comparing a color parameter of the region of interest to acolor criterion associated with a type of contamination, comparing amorphological parameter of the region of interest to a referenceparameter associated with the type of contamination, and upondetermining that the color parameter meets the color criterion and thatthe morphological parameter sufficiently matches the referenceparameter, identifying the region of interest as a region ofcontamination on a surface of the plant. The method further includestransmitting data including an instruction to lift a cutter of theharvester up from the planting bed to avoid harvesting the plant inresponse to identifying the region of interest as the region ofcontamination, and while the cutter of the harvester is being lifted upfrom the planting bed, generating a second series of images of anadditional plant disposed along the planting bed using the camera as theframe continues to be moved along the planting bed by the harvester.

In some embodiments, the camera is a portion of a machine vision systemthat is operable to analyze the first and second series of images.

In certain embodiments, the machine vision system is operable togenerate first and second series of machine vision views respectivelyassociated with the first and second series of images.

In some embodiments, the camera is located forward of the harvester suchthat the camera generates images of plants disposed along the plantingbed before the plants can be severed from the planting bed by thecutter.

In certain embodiments, the method further includes maintaining apredetermined vertical distance between the camera and the planting bed.

In some embodiments, the method further includes illuminating the plantusing one or more lights associated with the camera while the first andsecond series of images are generated.

In certain embodiments, the method further includes blockingenvironmental light from impinging upon the plant and the additionalplant while the first and second series of images are generated,respectively.

In some embodiments, the method further includes identifying the regionof interest using a blob analysis.

In certain embodiments, the blob analysis identifies portions of theregion of interest that share one or more colors and determines a borderaround the portions.

In some embodiments, the morphological parameter is a shape of theregion of interest.

In certain embodiments, the morphological parameter is a size of theregion of interest.

In some embodiments, the type of contamination includes fecal matter,disease, rodents, insects, or foreign matter.

In certain embodiments, the plant is a leafy vegetable plant.

In some embodiments, the leafy vegetable plant is a baby green vegetableplant.

In certain embodiments, the leafy vegetable plant is a mature greenvegetable plant.

In some embodiments, the method further includes storing a first seriesof machine vision views associated with the first series of images inassociation with position coordinates of the region of contamination inresponse to identifying the region of interest as the region ofcontamination.

In certain embodiments, the method further includes storing a record ofa lifting action taken by the cutter to avoid harvesting the plant.

In some embodiments, the method further includes generating a reportincluding information related to an identification of the region ofinterest as the region of contamination.

In certain embodiments, the method further includes determining whetheror not the cutter contacted the plant based on a height to which thecutter was lifted and an amount of time elapsed between the data beingtransmitted and the cutter being lifted.

In some embodiments, the data is transmitted wirelessly.

In certain embodiments, the instruction includes an actuation of a lightthat can alert an operator of the harvester.

In some embodiments, the instruction includes a message displayed on acomputing device associated with the harvester.

In certain embodiments, the instruction includes a control signal toautomatically lift the cutter.

In some embodiments, the method further includes transmitting dataincluding a subsequent instruction to lower the cutter of the harvestertowards the planting bed to continue harvesting plants from the plantingbed after the cutter has been lifted up from the planting bed.

In certain embodiments, the method further includes transmitting dataincluding a subsequent instruction to cease a harvesting operation andto decontaminate one or more portions of the harvester.

In some embodiments, the method further includes moving the plant toexpose hidden regions of contamination on the surface of the plant whilethe first and second series of images are generated.

In certain embodiments, moving the plant includes moving the plantforward and backward with a flexible comb.

In some embodiments, moving the plant includes blowing air toward theplant.

In certain embodiments, the method further includes generating a thirdseries of images of the additional plant using an additional cameramounted to the harvester after the additional plant has been harvestedby the cutter and transported to a conveyor belt.

Another aspect of the invention features a plant inspection system thatincludes a camera that is configured to generate a first series imagesof a plant disposed along a planting bed, a processor that is associatedwith the camera, and a controller that is communicably coupled to theprocessor. The camera is mounted to a frame being moved along theplanting bed by a harvester. The processor is configured to identify aregion of interest displayed in the first series of images from featureboundary data defined by color regions associated with the first seriesof images, compare a color parameter of the region of interest to acolor criterion associated with a type of contamination, compare amorphological parameter of the region of interest to a referenceparameter associated with the type of contamination, and upondetermining that the color parameter meets the color criterion and thatthe morphological parameter sufficiently matches the referenceparameter, identify the region of interest as a region of contaminationon a surface of the plant. The controller is configured to transmit dataincluding an instruction to lift a cutter of the harvester up from theplanting bed to avoid harvesting the plant in response to the processoridentifying the region of interest as the region of contamination whilethe camera generates a second series of images of an additional plantdisposed along the planting bed as the frame continues to be moved alongthe planting bed by the harvester.

Another aspect of the invention features a method of inspecting plantsfor contamination. The method includes generating a first series ofimages of a plant disposed along a planting bed using a camera mountedto a frame being moved along the planting bed by a harvester,identifying a region of interest displayed in the first series of imagesas a region of contamination on the plant based on a color criterion anda morphological criterion applied to the region of interest, andtransmitting data including an instruction to increase a verticaldistance between the plant and a cutter of the harvester to avoidharvesting the plant in response to identifying the region of interestas the region of contamination. The method further includes generating asecond series of images of an additional plant disposed along theplanting bed using the camera as the frame continues to be moved alongthe planting bed by the harvester while the vertical distance betweenthe plant and the cutter is being increased.

In some embodiments, the camera is a portion of a machine vision systemthat is operable to analyze the first and second series of images.

In certain embodiments, the machine vision system is operable togenerate first and second series of machine vision views respectivelyassociated with the first and second series of images.

In some embodiments, the camera is located forward of the harvester suchthat the camera generates images of plants disposed along the plantingbed before the plants can be severed from the planting bed by thecutter.

In certain embodiments, the method further includes maintaining apredetermined vertical distance between the camera and the planting bed.

In some embodiments, the method further includes illuminating the plantusing one or more lights associated with the camera while the first andsecond series of images are generated.

In certain embodiments, the method further includes blockingenvironmental light from impinging upon the plant and the additionalplant while the first and second series of images are generated,respectively.

In some embodiments, identifying the region of interest includesperforming a blob analysis that identifies portions of the region ofinterest that share one or more colors and that determines a borderaround the portions.

In certain embodiments, the morphological criterion is related to ashape or a size of the region of interest.

In some embodiments, the type of contamination includes fecal matter,disease, rodents, insects, or foreign matter.

In certain embodiments, the plant is a leafy vegetable plant.

In some embodiments, the leafy vegetable plant is a baby green vegetableplant or a mature green vegetable plant.

In certain embodiments, the method further includes storing a firstseries of machine vision views associated with the first series ofimages in association with position coordinates of the region ofcontamination in response to identifying the region of interest as theregion of contamination.

In some embodiments, the method further includes selectively actuating adeflection plate of multiple deflection plates to force the plant downtowards the planting bed based on the instruction.

In certain embodiments, selectively actuating the deflection plateincludes rotating the deflection plate down towards the plant.

In some embodiments, the method further includes flattening the plantatop the planting bed.

In certain embodiments, the method further includes pushing the plantdown into the planting bed.

In some embodiments, the method further includes harvesting anon-contaminated plant adjacent to the plant while the vertical distancebetween the plant and the cutter is being increased.

In certain embodiments, the plant is a first contaminated plant, and themethod further includes increasing a vertical distance between thecutter and a second contaminated plant while the vertical distance isbeing increased between the cutter and the first contaminated plant.

In some embodiments, the instruction indicates that the cutter should belifted up from the planting bed.

In certain embodiments, the method further includes storing a record ofan action taken to increase the distance between the plant and thecutter.

In some embodiments, the method further includes generating a reportincluding information related to an identification of the region ofinterest as the region of contamination.

In certain embodiments, the method further includes determining whetheror not the cutter contacted the plant.

In some embodiments, the data is transmitted wirelessly.

In certain embodiments, the instruction is associated with an actuationof a light that can alert an operator of the harvester.

In some embodiments, the instruction includes a message displayed on acomputing device associated with the harvester.

In certain embodiments, the instruction includes a control signal toautomatically perform an action to increase the distance between theplant and the cutter.

In some embodiments, the method further includes transmitting dataincluding a subsequent instruction to cease a harvesting operation andto decontaminate one or more portions of the harvester.

In certain embodiments, the method further includes moving the plant toexpose hidden regions of contamination on the plant while the first andsecond series of images are generated.

Another aspect of the invention features a plant inspection system thatincludes a camera that is configured to generate a first series imagesof a plant disposed along a planting bed, where the camera us mounted toa frame being moved along the planting bed by a harvester. The plantinspection system further includes a processor that is associated withthe camera and configured to identifying a region of interest displayedin the first series of images as a region of contamination on the plantbased on a color criterion and a morphological criterion applied to theregion of interest. The plant inspection system further includes acontroller that is communicably coupled to the processor and configuredto transmit data including an instruction to increase a verticaldistance between the plant and a cutter of the harvester to avoidharvesting the plant in response to the processor identifying the regionof interest as the region of contamination, while the camera generates asecond series of images of an additional plant disposed along theplanting bed as the frame continues to be moved along the planting bedby the harvester.

Another aspect of the invention features a method of inspecting plantsfor contamination. The method includes generating a first series ofimages of a plant disposed along a planting bed using a camera mountedto a frame being moved along the planting bed by a vehicle, identifyinga region of interest displayed in the first series of images as a regionof contamination on the plant based on a color criterion and amorphological criterion applied to the region of interest, andselectively actuating a plant eradication device of multiple planteradication devices to remove the plant from a surface of the plantingbed in response to identifying the region of interest as the region ofcontamination. The method further includes generating a second series ofimages of an additional plant disposed along the planting bed using thecamera as the frame continues to be moved along the planting bed by thevehicle while the plant eradication device is being selectivelyactuated.

In some embodiments, the plant eradication device includes a deflectionplate.

In certain embodiments, selectively actuating the plant eradicationdevice includes rotating the deflection plate down towards the plant toforce the plant down into the planting bed based on the instruction.

In some embodiments, the plant eradication device includes a cuttingblade and a rotating carrier.

In certain embodiments, the rotating carrier includes a paddle wheel.

In some embodiments, the rotating carrier includes a conveyor.

In certain embodiments, selectively actuating the plant eradicationdevice includes severing the plant with the cutting blade andtransporting the plant away from a location at which the plant isgrowing with the rotating carrier.

In some embodiments, the method further includes conveying the plantaway from the planting bed in a first direction perpendicular to asecond direction in which the frame is being moved along the plantingbed by the vehicle.

In certain embodiments, the method further includes harvesting anon-contaminated plant adjacent to the plant while the plant is beingremoved from the surface of the planting bed.

In some embodiments, the plant is a first contaminated plant, the planteradication device is a first plant eradication device, and the methodfurther includes selectively actuating a second plant eradication deviceof the multiple plant eradication devices to remove the secondcontaminated plant from the surface of the planting bed while the firstplant eradication device is being selectively actuated.

Another aspect of the invention features a plant inspection system thatincludes a camera that is configured to generate a first series imagesof a plant disposed along a planting bed, where the camera mounted to aframe being moved along the planting bed by a vehicle. The plantinspection system further includes a processor that is associated withthe camera and configured to identifying a region of interest displayedin the first series of images as a region of contamination on the plantbased on a color criterion and a morphological criterion applied to theregion of interest. The plant inspection system further includes a planteradication device of multiple plant eradication devices that is mountedto the frame and that can be selectively actuated to remove the plantfrom a surface of the planting bed in response to the processoridentifying the region of interest as the region of contamination, whilethe camera generates a second series of images of an additional plantdisposed along the planting bed as the frame continues to be moved alongthe planting bed by the vehicle.

The details of one or more embodiments of the invention are set forth inthe accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features,aspects, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thedescription, drawings, and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

This patent or patent application publication contains at least onedrawing executed in color. Copies of this patent or patent applicationpublication with color drawing(s) will be provided by the Office uponrequest and payment of the necessary fee.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a plant inspection system associatedwith components of a harvester.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the plant inspection system of FIG. 1,with certain components removed for illustration purposes.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the plant inspection system of FIG. 1,including a plant manipulation device in the form of a flexible comb andwith certain components removed for illustration purposes.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the plant inspection system of FIG. 1,including a plant manipulation device in the form of a set of airnozzles and with certain components removed for illustration purposes.

FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C respectively display a standard image acquired by acamera of the plant inspection system of FIG. 1, a filtered machinevision view produced by a processor of the camera, and a color machinevision view generated by the processor of the camera.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of an example process for inspecting plants forcontamination.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a plant contamination system positionedabove a conveyor belt.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a plant inspection system associatedwith components of a harvester.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of an example process for inspecting plants forcontamination.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a plant inspection system configuredfor use during a pre-harvest operation.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart of an example process for inspecting plants forcontamination.

Like reference symbols in the various figures indicate like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Plant inspection systems for identifying contaminated plants duringharvesting operations and pre-harvest operations are described below.The described plant inspection systems includes a manipulation device, amachine vision system, and associated control elements that allow theplant inspection systems to identify contaminated regions on plantcomponents in an automated and real-time manner, thereby improving ayield of a harvesting operation as compared to that which would beachieved using conventional harvesting techniques. Plants that may beexamined by the plant inspection systems include leafy vegetable plants(e.g., baby green vegetable plants and mature green vegetable plants)and other vegetable plants grown in fields.

FIG. 1 displays a perspective view of a plant inspection system 100 thatis operable to identify various types of contamination on plants in realtime. Types of contamination that can be identified by the plantinspection system 100 include feces (e.g., bird feces and other animalfeces), disease (e.g., mildew and other fungal contamination, leaf tipburn, and viruses, such as lettuce mosaic virus and cucumber mosaicvirus), rodents (e.g., mice and snakes), insects, foreign matter (e.g.,paper, trash, and plastic bags), and other forms of contamination. Inthe example of FIG. 1, the plant inspection system 100 is mounted to aharvester (e.g., an automated harvester) for inspecting leafy vegetableplants grown in a field and harvested in bulk (e.g., harvested inmultiple quantities non-selectively and simultaneously), such as babygreen vegetable plants. Example baby green vegetable plants that may beinspected by the plant inspection system 100 include baby leaf spinachplants, baby romaine plants, baby red romaine plants, baby red chardplants, tango plants, radicchio plants, arugula plants, red mustardplants, lolla rossa plants, tango plants, frisee plants, mizuna plants,green oak leaf plants, curly endive plants, baby leaf lettuce plants,baby leaf mustard plants, cilantro plants, parsley plants, kale plants,escarole plants, green leaf plants, green butter plants, and tatsoiplants.

The plant inspection system 100 is mounted to a frame 115 located alonga front side of the harvester, which moves in a forward direction 101along a planting bed 107 (e.g., a bed of soil) in which multiple rows(e.g., parallel rows) of leafy vegetable plants 103 are planted. (Forillustration purposes, the multiple rows of leafy vegetable plants 103are represented by a single block 103 in FIG. 1.) The planting bed 107is disposed between opposing furrows 105, and the plants 103 areelevated with respect to a top surface of the planting bed 107. In someexamples, the plants 103 have a height (e.g., with respect to the topsurface of the planting bed 107) of about 10 cm to about 25 cm (e.g.,about 15 cm), and the planting bed 107 has a width of about 150 cm toabout 170 cm (e.g., about 160 cm). The planting bed 107 can extend alength that is governed by a length of a field in which the planting bedis arranged. Accordingly, the planting bed 107 typically extends about100 m to about 1000 m in length. In some examples, the furrows 105 havea depth (e.g., with respect to the top surface of the planting bed 107)of about 5 cm to about 15 cm (e.g., about 10 cm) and a minimum width ofabout 40 cm to about 60 cm (e.g., about 50 cm). In some examples, theplanting beds 107 are spaced apart (e.g., as measured betweencenterlines of adjacent planting beds 107) in the field by about 175 mto about 225 m. The plant inspection system 100 is configuredaccordingly to operate on the planting beds 107.

The plant inspection system 100 is positioned forward of a cutting blade109 (e.g., a bandsaw) and a conveyor 111 (e.g., a belt conveyor) of theharvester. The conveyor 111 is operable to move severed plants 103rearward towards a collection container and personnel riding on theharvester who place the plants 103 into the collection containers. Thecutting blade 109 and the conveyor 111 can be lowered to harvest plants103 from the planting bed 107 (e.g., to sever plants 103 from theplanting bed 107 and to convey the severed plants 103) and raised toavoid harvesting plants 103 from the planting bed 107 (e.g., to avoidcontact between the cutting blade 109 and the conveyor 111 and theplants 103). During a harvesting operation, the cutting blade 109 andthe conveyor 111 are maintained at a predetermined cutting distanceabove the planting bed 107, which can vary in elevation according to anelevation of the field in which the planting bed 107 is arranged.Accordingly, the cutting blade 109 and the conveyor 111 float about 5 cmto about 10 cm (e.g., about 8 cm) above the planting bed 107.

The cutting blade 109 and the conveyor 111 typically have a cuttingwidth that is at least as large as the width of the planting bed 107.Therefore, in some examples, the cutting blade 109 and the conveyor 111have a cutting width of about 150 cm to about 170 cm (e.g., about 160cm). For illustration purposes, only components of the plant inspectionsystem 100 and of the harvester that are significant to the descriptionof plant inspection are shown. However, it will be understood that otherstandard electrical and mechanical components will be included. Forexample, the plant inspection system 100 and/or the harvester mayinclude a generator and/or batteries for powering the electricalcomponents.

The plant inspection system 100 includes a machine vision system 102that generates images of the plants 103, two connection arms 104 bywhich the machine vision system 102 is attached to the harvester, twoframes 106 that support the machine vision system 102, four wheels 108attached (e.g., welded at hubs) to the frames 106, an enclosure 110 thathouses various electrical components, and a cutter position sensor 148(e.g., an ultrasonic sensor or laser position sensor) that detects aheight of the cutting blade 109. The plant inspection system 100 alsoincludes a programmable controller (PC) 118 that is electrically coupledto the machine vision system 102, a GPS system 120 that provides fieldlocations to the PC 118, a cellular system 146 for remote communicationand reporting, and a WiFi system 122 that wirelessly transmits data fromthe PC to a computing device (e.g., a laptop computer, a tabletcomputer, a smartphone) that is used by an operator of the harvester.The PC 118, the GPS system 120, cellular system 146, and the WiFi system122 are housed within the enclosure 110.

The connection arms 104 include multiple segments. The connection arms104 are attached at first ends 112 to the frame 115 along the front sideof the harvester and are attached at second ends 114 to the machinevision system 102. The connection arms 104 are pivotable with respect tothe frame 115 of the harvester at first ends 112 and, to a lesserextent, pivotable with respect to the machine vision system 102. Theconnection arms 104 position the machine vision system 102 at a distanceof about 100 cm to about 200 cm (e.g., about 150 cm) forward of theharvester. The connection arms 104 are also operable to raise and lowerthe machine vision system 102 and other components attached directly orindirectly thereto while the harvester is maneuvered (e.g., turned) fromone planting bed 107 to a next planting bed 107 when the harvesterreaches an end of a planting bed 107. In this regard, the plantinspection system 100 includes two hydraulic cylinders 116 that areoperable to raise and lower a height of the connection arms 104.

The plant inspection system 100 is configured such that the wheels 108are positioned within the furrows 105 extending along the planting bed107. The wheels 108, together with the connection arms 104, allow theharvester to push the plant inspection system 100 in the forwarddirection 101 in a manner such that the machine vision system 102 floatsabove the plants 103. Movements of the cutting blade 109 and theconveyor 111 of the harvester are independent of movements of the plantinspection system 100, such that the wheels 108 of the plant inspectionsystem 100 remain on the ground irrespective of the height of thecutting blade 109 and the conveyor 111 above the plants 103. The frames106, to which the wheels 108 are attached, are vertically adjustablerelative to the machine vision system 102 to accommodate plants 103,planting beds 107, and fields of variable heights and elevations.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the machine vision system 102 extends acrossthe width of the planting bed 107 and is operable to image the plants103 from above the plants to identify contamination on surfaces of plantcomponents (e.g., leaves and stems). The machine vision system 102includes five cameras 124, five light arrays 126, and five panels 128 towhich the cameras 124 and the light arrays 126 are respectively mounted.The machine vision system 102 also includes an upper rail 132, a lowerrail 134 that is attached to the frames 106, and a hood 130 (e.g., aprotective cover) that surrounds the five panels 128, the light arrays126, and the upper rail 132. The enclosure 110 is attached to the lowerrail 134. The lower rail 134 also provides attachment locations for thesecond ends 114 of the connection arms 104. In some examples, a heightof the hood 130 (e.g., defined as a distance between the upper rail 132and the lower rail 134) is about 20 cm to about 60 cm (e.g., about 36cm).

The cameras 124 and the light arrays 126 are centrally mounted torespective panels 128 such that the cameras 124 and the light arrays 126are spaced about evenly apart across the hood 130. The light arrays 126may be provided as ring light arrays that surround the cameras 124 or asbar light arrays that are otherwise positioned in association with thecameras 124. In some examples, the ring light arrays may provide moreuniform illumination than the bar light arrays. The light arrays 126include multiple LEDs that have filters for sufficient illumination anddesired image characteristics. The hood 130 is adapted to block (e.g.,reduce the amount of) sunlight, other types of light, and precipitationthat may otherwise impinge upon components of the plant inspectionsystem 100 or upon the plants 103 in the fields of view during theharvesting operation. The plant inspection system 100 also includes askirt 136 (e.g., a neoprene skirt) that covers a gap between the lowerrail 134 and a top surface of plants 103. Like the hood 130, the skirt136 is adapted to block light and precipitation that may otherwiseimpinge upon components of the plant inspection system 100 and upon theplants 103 in the fields of view. The skirt 136 can be mounted atvarious vertical positions along the lower rail 134 depending on theheight of the plants 103.

The cameras 124 are oriented (e.g., horizontally) and positioned toimage respective fields of view along the top surface of the plants 103.The cameras 124 may be standard resolution, color video graphics array(VGA) cameras known to a person skilled in the art. For example, thecameras 124 may have a pixel count of 480×640 and image a 27 cm×36 cmfield of view. The camera resolution (e.g., pixel dimension) of such afield of view may be 0.056 cm, which is adequate for identifyingcontamination (e.g., feces, disease, or foreign matter) on components ofthe plants 103. The focal length selected for the cameras 124 is 6 mm. Aworking distance between lenses of the cameras 124 and the top surfaceof the plants is 45 cm. The cameras 124 can acquire images every 100 ms,allowing the cameras 124 to acquire three images of the same plant 103while the inspection system 100 moves at a predetermined speed (e.g.,about 65 cm/s) in the field 107. The images acquired by each camera 124overlap the images acquired by a neighboring camera 124 by about 2.5 cm,such that no gaps exist between images acquired of adjacent fields ofview. The fields of view (e.g., when aligned serially) cover a width ofabout 180 cm.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the plant inspection system 100 alsoincludes a manipulation device (omitted from FIGS. 1 and 2 for clarity)for moving components (e.g., leaves, stems, and other components) of theplants 103 forward and backward in order to expose hidden contaminationto the cameras 124 above the plants 103. In some examples, hiddencontamination may be located on undersides of components of the plants103 or located on components of the plants 103 that are below the topsurface of the plants 103. According to an actuation rate of themanipulation device and the image acquisition rate (e.g., 10 fps) of thecameras 124, at least one of the three images captured by a camera 124and showing a particular plant 103 will capture any hidden contaminationin an exposed state.

Referring particularly to FIG. 3, in some embodiments, the manipulationdevice is a flexible comb 138 that is mounted to the upper rail 132inside of the hood 130, below the cameras 124, and above the plants 103.The comb 138 has flexible finger-like projections 140 (e.g., urethanecords) that extend down into the plants 103 and that are moved forwardand backward across the plants 103 while the cameras 124 acquire imagesof the plants. In some examples, the finger-like projections 140 remainfixed (i.e., are not moved forward and backward) relative to the cameras124 such that the motion of the harvester pushes the comb 138 throughthe plants 103, thereby moving the components of the plants 103. In thismanner, the finger-like projections 140 move the components of theplants 103 forward to expose hidden contamination.

Referring particularly to FIG. 4, in some embodiments, the manipulationdevice is a set of air nozzles 142 mounted to the upper rail 132, insideof the hood 130, below the cameras 124, and above the plants 103. Theair nozzles 142 can apply controlled bursts of air to the plants 103 inan alternating manner while the cameras 124 acquire images of the plants103. The alternating air bursts from the air nozzles 142 move componentsof the plants 103 forward and backward to expose hidden contamination.

FIGS. 5A-5C respectively display an image 200 acquired by a camera 124,a corresponding filtered machine vision view 202 (e.g., with colorfiltration turned on) generated by a respective camera processor 144,and a corresponding color machine vision view 204 (e.g., with colorfiltration turned off) generated by the respective camera processor 144.Following capture of the image 200 by the camera 124, the cameraprocessor 144 performs a color filtration on the image 200 to generate abinary image (e.g., a black and white image) in which backgroundfeatures (e.g., soil and plant components, such as leaves and stems) areeliminated (e.g., shown as black) based on colors typically associatedwith such features, and in which contamination is shown as a whitecolor. For example, the camera processor 144 removes green and soilcolor ranges from the image 200 that are typically associated with suchbackground features. (In some examples, if multiple types ofcontamination with different color profiles are to be detected, then theprocessor 144 creates separate binary images for each type ofcontamination.) The processor 144 then performs a blob analysis on thebinary image to generate the filtered machine vision view 202. That is,the processor 144 performs a mathematical analysis that finds regions inthe binary image that share the same one or more properties (e.g., thesame one or more colors) and combines the regions into blobs. Forexample, the regions of interest may exhibit a range of white colors,grey colors, and black colors that meet a color criterion for birdfeces. In some examples, the regions of interest may exhibit a range ofyellow colors that meet a color criterion for fungal diseases or a rangeof brown colors that meet a color criterion for tip burn. Regions ofinterest that do not meet a color criterion for bird feces (or otheranimal feces), fungal diseases, leaf tip burn, or other diseases maymeet a color criterion for rodents, a color criterion for insects, or anexclusion color criterion for foreign matter. Accordingly, the processor144 finds pixels in the image 200 that meet the color criterions forbird feces, fungal diseases, tip burn, rodents, insects, and foreignmatter by processing binary images associated with each type ofcontamination.

The processor 144 then combines the pixels meeting a particular colorcriteria (e.g., pixels that are adjacent or sufficiently close to eachother) into a blob (e.g., as illustrated by the blobs 206, 208) anddraws a border around the blob, thereby defining a pattern (e.g., ashape) of the blob. In some examples, bird feces appear as spots orsplotches on plants 103. In some examples, fungal diseases appear aschlorotic lesions or small circular lesions on plants 103. In someexamples, leaf tip burn is exhibited by withering of leaf tips. Thecamera processor 144 further determines a size of the blob (e.g., alength and/or a width of the respective pattern). The processor 144compares the pattern, size, and color of the blob to known (e.g.,stored) patterns, sizes, and colors of bird feces (or other animalfeces), fungal diseases, leaf tip burn, plant viruses, other diseases,rodents, insects, and foreign matter. Blobs with patterns thatsufficiently match known patterns of contamination, that meet a minimumsize threshold (e.g., a stored threshold value) for the contamination,and that fall within a color range associated with a particular type ofcontamination can be identified accordingly and marked with a crosshair210 (e.g., the blue crosshair faintly shown in FIGS. 5B and 5C). Blobswith patterns that do not have recognizable features (e.g., recognizableshape profiles), that do not meet a minimum size threshold, or that donot fall within color ranges associated with particular types ofcontamination may be ignored by the camera processor 144. Once thecamera processor 144 performs the blob analysis on the binary image togenerate the filtered machine vision view 202, the camera processor 144can turn off the color filtration, thereby generating the color machinevision view 204.

In some examples, the camera processor 144 varies the Red Green Blue(RGB) data of the pixels in the image 200 prior to performing the blobanalysis, in order to brighten the image 200, to enhance the pixelcolors in the image 200, and/or to increase contrast among the colors inthe image 200, thereby producing an enhanced image. Such processing canimprove the detection of contamination in dim light (e.g., at night orwhen the contamination is shadowed by leaves or other plant material) orin cases where the contamination is affected by moisture or otherenvironmental contaminants.

Once the camera processor 144 identifies a blob (e.g., the blob 206 orthe blob 208) corresponding to a particular type of contamination, thecamera processor 144 runs an algorithm to determine digital imageposition coordinates of the blob (e.g., xy position coordinates of acentroid of the blob in a digital coordinate system of the digitalimage). The processor 144 then provides the digital image positioncoordinates and machine vision views 202, 204 with identified regions ofcontamination to the PC 118. The PC 118 downloads GPS coordinates of thecamera 124 from the GPS system 120 and determines field positioncoordinates of the regions of contamination based on the digital imageposition coordinates and the GPS coordinates. The PCL 118 stores themachine vision views 202, 204, the field position coordinates of theregions of contamination, the type of contamination identified, and asummary of an evasive action taken to avoid harvesting the contaminatedplants 103, which will be discussed in more detail below. In someexamples, such parameters are stored in association with one more of adate, a time, and other field location parameters. The camera processor144 sends the machine vision views 202, 204 showing identified regionsof contamination and associated digital image position coordinates tothe PC 118 in a continuous manner as regions of contamination areidentified.

Using the above-described image analyses, the plant inspection system100 can quickly process large amounts of information to recognize colorsand patterns to identify regions of contamination on surfaces of theplants 103. In contrast, conventional, manual inspections performed bythe operator of the harvester or by field personnel cannot achieve suchan extent of inspection detail in a feasible manner (e.g., in areasonable amount of time, in a manner that systematically identifieshidden contamination, or performing the harvesting operation duringdaylight hours, when visibility is optimal but when climate and plantconditions are sub-optimal). Accordingly, as compared to suchconventional analyses, the above-described image analyses are moreaccurate, provide more information, and are more successful in correctlyidentifying contaminated plants 103.

When the PC 118 receives an indication (e.g., machine vision views 202,204 showing an identified region of contamination along with digitalimage position coordinates) that a region of contamination has beenidentified, the PC 118 sends a control signal to a light stand (omittedfor clarity) on the plant inspection system 100 to actuate a red warninglight within the light stand. The PC 118 also sends a control signal viathe WiFi system 122 to the computing device used by the operator of theharvester to display a message on the computing device instructing theoperator to raise the cutting blade 109. The red warning light and themessage can alert the operator to the contaminated plant 103. Inresponse to the red warning light and/or to the message displayed on thecomputing device, the operator will take actions to raise the cuttingblade 109 (and the associated conveyor 111) to avoid harvesting thecontaminated plant 103 from the planting bed 107 (e.g., to prevent thecutting blade 109 and the conveyor 111 from contacting the contaminatedplant 103).

According to a distance between the cutting blade 109 and the plantinspection system 100 (e.g., about 150 cm), the operator will have about1 s to about 3 s (e.g., about 2 s) to raise the cutting blade 109 toprevent the cutting blade 109 from contacting the contaminated plant 103from the time that the operator perceives the red warning light or themessage. In some examples, the operator raises the cutting blade 109 byabout 4 cm to about 8 cm above the plants 103 to clear (e.g., avoidcontact with) the contaminated plant 103. The cutter position sensor 148records a height of the cutting blade 109 (e.g., relative to the topsurface of the planting bed 107) achieved by the cutting blade 109during lifting. Based on the height achieved by the cutting blade 109and the forward movement of the harvester, the PC 118 determines whetheror not the cutting blade 109 successfully avoided contact with thecontaminated plant 103. If the cutting blade 109 successfully bypassesthe contaminated plant 103, then the PC 118 sends a control signal tothe light stand to actuate a green light (e.g., an “all clear” light) inthe light stand. The PC 118 also sends a control signal to the computingdevice used by the operator of the harvester to display a messageindicating that the cutting blade 109 can be lowered. In response to thegreen light and/or to the message displayed on the computing device, theoperator will take actions to lower the cutting blade 109 (and theassociated conveyor 111) to continue harvesting plants 103 from theplanting bed 107.

If, on the other hand, the PC 118 determines that the cutting blade 109was not raised fast enough or high enough to avoid contact with thecontaminated plant 103, then the PC 118 will send a control signal tothe light stand to actuate a blinking red light. The PC 118 will alsosend a control signal via the WiFi system 122 to the computing deviceused by the operator of the harvester to display a message indicatingthat the contaminated plant 103 was harvested, that the contaminatedplant 103 should be removed from the harvester, and that, in some cases(e.g., if the contamination is identified as bird feces), that theharvester should be decontaminated (e.g., disinfected or sterilized)where contact was made with the contaminated plant 103.

As mentioned above, the PC 118 is programmed to store a log of allmachine vision views 202, 204 showing regions of contamination, fieldposition coordinates of the regions of contamination, types ofcontamination identified, successful and failed attempts to avoidharvesting contaminated plants 103, and dates and times at which theattempts occurred. Using the information in the log, the PC 118 cangenerate a field report at a predetermined time (e.g., at an end of aharvesting operation or at a certain time of the day). The PC 118 maysend the field report to the computing device used by the operator or toanother computing device remote from the harvester and the plantinspection system 100 via the cellular system 146 so that actions can betaken by growers of the field. Such actions may include authorizingshipment of plant products or holding plant products for manualinspection.

Owing to capabilities of the plant inspection system 100 to illuminate aplanting bed, to identify contaminated plants, and to alert an operatorof a harvester to the presence of contaminated plants in real time, theplant inspection system 100 can allow a field to be harvestedefficiently and during periods of limited visibility (e.g., at night)while avoiding dangerous contamination (e.g., salmonella poisoningresulting from bird feces) of previously harvested plants such that foodsafety is maintained and while avoiding costly shutdowns anddecontaminations of the harvester or of a downstream (e.g.,post-harvest) processing line (e.g., at a processing plant).

FIG. 6 displays a flow chart of an example process 300 for inspectingplants (e.g., leafy vegetable plants) disposed along a planting bedusing the above-described plant inspection system. As a harvester moves(e.g., pushes) the plant inspection system along the planting bed, acamera of the plant inspection system generates (e.g., acquires) a firstseries of images of a plant (e.g., a leafy vegetable plant) disposedalong the planting bed (302). In some examples, the camera generatesimages at a rate of 10 fps, allowing the camera to generate three imagesof the plant while the harvester moves the plant inspection system alongthe planting bed at a predetermined speed (e.g., about 65 cm/s). Whilethe camera generates the series of images, a light array associated withthe camera illuminates the plant, a hood surrounding the light arrayblocks environmental light (e.g., sunlight) from impinging upon theplant, and a manipulation device (e.g., a set of air nozzles or aflexible comb) is actuated to move the plant forward and backward toexpose hidden regions of contamination on a surface of the plant.

A processor associated with the camera then identifies a region ofinterest displayed in the first series of images from feature boundarydata defined by color regions associated with the first series of images(304). For example, the processor performs a blob analysis on the imagesby combining pixels that are adjacent or sufficiently close to eachother and within a certain range of colors into a blob. The processorthen determines a border around the blob, thereby defining a pattern(e.g., a shape) of the blob. The processor further generates a series ofmachine vision views associated with the first series of images anddisplaying the blob. Next, the processor compares a color parameter ofthe region of interest to a color criterion associated with a type ofcontamination (306) and compares a morphological parameter (e.g., a sizeor a shape) of the region of interest to a reference parameterassociated with the type of contamination (308).

Upon determining that the color parameter meets the color criterion andthat the morphological parameter sufficiently matches the referenceparameter, the processor identifies the region of interest as a regionof contamination (e.g., feces, disease, rodents, insects, or foreignmatter) on a surface of the plant (310). In response to the processoridentifying the region of interest as the region of contamination, a PCcommunicably coupled to the processor transmits data including aninstruction to lift a cutter of the harvester up from the planting bedto avoid harvesting (e.g., contacting and further severing) the plant(312). In some examples, the instruction is a signal to actuate a lightthat can alert an operator of the harvester to the region ofcontamination. In some examples, the instruction is a message displayedon a computing device associated with the harvester (e.g., a computingdevice in proximity to the operator of the harvester or a computingdevice remote from the harvester). In other cases, the instruction is acontrol signal to automatically lift the cutter.

In response to the processor identifying the region of interest as theregion of contamination, the PC also stores a series of machine visionviews associated with the first series of images in association withposition coordinates of the region of contamination (e.g., based on GPScoordinates received from a GPS system) and stores a record of a liftingaction taken by the cutter to avoid harvesting the plant. The PC cangenerate a report including the series of machine vision views, theposition coordinates of the region of contamination, the record of thelifting action, and other information related to an identification ofthe region of interest as the region of contamination. Based on a heightto which the cutter was lifted and an amount of time elapsed between thedata being transmitted and the cutter being lifted, the PC can determinewhether or not the cutter contacted the plant. If the cutter cleared theplant, then the PC transmits data including an instruction to lower thecutter of the harvester towards the planting bed to continue harvestingplants from the planting bed. If the cutter did not clear the plant,then the PC transmits data including an instruction to cease theharvesting operation and to decontaminate one or more portions (e.g.,the cutter and a conveyor) of the harvester.

While the cutter of the harvester is being lifted up from the plantingbed, the camera generates a second series of images of an additionalplant disposed along the planting bed as the frame continues to be movedalong the planting bed by the harvester (314). In some embodiments, anadditional camera mounted to the harvester and downstream of the cuttergenerates a third series of images of the additional plant after theadditional plant has been harvested by the cutter and transported to aconveyor belt, as will be discussed in more detail below with respect toFIG. 7.

While the plant inspection system 100 has been described as providing asignal that instructs an operator of a harvester to manually raise andlower a cutting blade of the harvester, in some embodiments, the PC 118of the plant inspection system 100 is programmed to send a controlsignal to the harvester that automatically causes the cutting blade tobe raised and lowered, which can shorten a response time to avoidcontaminated plants, as compared to an amount of time required for theoperator to manually takes actions to raise and lower the cutting blade.

While the plant inspection system 100 has been described and illustratedas being attached to a frontal frame of a harvester, in someembodiments, a plant inspection system may be located above a conveyorbelt for inspecting plants that have been cut from a planting bed. Forexample, FIG. 7 displays a perspective view of a plant inspection system400 that is positioned above a conveyor 401 (e.g., a belt conveyor). Theplant inspection system 400 is substantially similar in construction andfunction to the plant inspection system 100, except that the plantinspection system 400 does not include the connection arms 104, theframes 106, the wheels 108, the hydraulic cylinders 116, themanipulation devices 138, 140, or the cutter position sensor 148 of theplant inspection system 100. In some examples, the conveyor 401 may be aconveyor on a harvester downstream of a cutting blade of the harvester,a conveyor that transports plants in from a field (e.g., an infeedconveyor), or a conveyor in a processing line of a processing plant,where plants are washed and packaged. In some examples, the plantinspection system 400 can be mounted above multiple such conveyors atdifferent locations, thereby increasing the number of times that plantsare imaged and analyzed for contamination prior to packaging. In somecases, plants inspected on an infeed conveyor or on a conveyor in aprocessing plant may be produce that was grown in trees, such aspeaches, nectarines, figs, olives, walnuts, chestnuts, pecans, almonds,cherries, apples, pears, plums, apricots, and various other citrusplants.

While the plant inspection system 100 has been described and illustratedas preventing the harvest of contaminated plants by lifting a cuttingblade up from a planting bed to avoid contact between the cutting bladeand the contaminated plants, in some embodiments, a plant inspectionsystem can prevent the harvest of contaminated plants by forcing thecontaminated plants downward beneath a cutting blade to prevent contactbetween the cutting blade and the contaminated plants. For example, FIG.8 displays a perspective view of a plant inspection system 500 that isoperable to force contaminated plants downward beneath a cutting blade.Accordingly, the plant inspection system 500 may smash (e.g., flatten)the contaminated plants down atop a planting bed or push thecontaminated plants down into the planting bed such that all or aportion of the contaminated plants are removed from a top surface of theplanting bed. The plant inspection system 500 is mounted along the frontside of the harvester (e.g., including the cutting blade 109, theconveyor 111, the frame 115, and the computing device used by anoperator of the harvester) and moves in the forward direction 101 alongthe field (e.g., including the furrows 105 and the planting bed 107), asdescribed above with respect to FIG. 1.

The plant inspection system 500 includes multiple components of theplant inspection system 100 that are constructed and operable asdescribed above with respect to FIGS. 1-6. For example, the plantinspection system 500 includes the machine vision system 102 (e.g.,including the cameras 124, the camera processors 144, the light arrays126, the panels 128, the hood 130, the upper rail 132, and the lowerrail 134), the skirt 136, the frame 106, the connection arms 104 and theassociated hydraulic cylinders 116 (omitted from FIG. 8 for clarity),the wheels 108, the enclosure 110 (e.g., housing the PC 118, the GPSsystem 120, the WiFi system 122, and the cellular system 146), and amanipulation device (e.g., the flexible comb 138 or the set of airnozzles 142, which is omitted from FIG. 8 for clarity). Additionally,the plant inspection system 500 includes multiple deflection plates 550that are individually operable to push contaminated plants 103 downwardbeneath the cutting blade 109 of the harvester to prevent contactbetween the cutting blade 109 and the contaminated plants 103.

The deflection plates 550 are mounted to supporting structuralcomponents (e.g., rods or other components) and are individuallyactuated by pneumatic or hydraulic cylinders that are connected torespective, individual solenoid valves (omitted from FIG. 8 forclarity). The deflection plates 550 are arranged in a row that extendsthe width of the planting bed 107 between the machine vision system 102and the cutting blade 109. Each deflection plate 550 includes acylindrical mount 552 by which the deflection plate 550 is pivotableabout a deflection axis 558, a push plate 554 that extends from thecylindrical mount 552, and a flange 556 that extends at an angle fromthe push plate 554. The angle at which the flange 556 extends from thepush plate 554 is such that when the deflection plate 550 is deployed(e.g., rotated downward), the flange 556 is oriented parallel to theplanting bed 103. Depending on a stiffness of the deflection plates 550,the deflection plates 550 may be adapted to apply a relatively low forceto contaminated plants 103 to smash the contaminated plants 103 downtoward the planting bed 107 or adapted to apply a relatively large forceto contaminated plants 103 to push the contaminated plants 103 down intothe planting bed 107 such that all or a portion of the contaminatedplants 103 are removed from the top surface of the planting bed 107.

One or more deflection plates 550 can be selectively actuated (e.g.,swung downward about the deflection axis 558) simultaneously or atdifferent times to push one or more respective, contaminated plants 103down toward the planting bed 107. Owing to the selective, individualactivation of the deflection plates 550, contaminated plants 103 areprevented from coming into contact with the cutting blade 109 of theharvester, while non-contaminated or otherwise healthy plants 103disposed along the same cross-machine position (e.g., along a samelateral position across the width of the planting bed 107) as thecontaminated plants 103 are maintained intact and therefore harvested.Accordingly, use of the deflection plates 550 during a harvestingoperation can increase a yield of the plants 103, as compared to liftingthe cutting blade 109 (e.g., on the plant inspection system 100) toavoid an entire row including both contaminated and non-contaminatedplants 103. The deflection plates 550 can be cleaned (e.g., using a highpressure wash) in place. In some examples, portions (e.g., the machinevision system 102) of the plant inspection system 500 can be moved(e.g., wheeled away) to facilitate cleaning of the deflection plates550.

In some examples, the push plates 554 of the deflection plates 550 havea width of about 10 cm to about 20 cm (e.g., about 15 cm), a length ofabout 20 cm to about 40 cm (e.g., about 30 cm), and a thickness of about0.2 cm to about 0.8 cm (e.g., about 0.5 cm). In some examples, theflanges 556 of the deflection plates 550 have a width of about 10 cm toabout 20 cm (e.g., about 15 cm), a length of about 2 cm to about 8 cm(e.g., about 5 cm), and a thickness of about 0.2 cm to about 0.8 cm(e.g., about 0.5 cm). In some examples, the flanges 556 extend from thepush plates 554 at an angle of about 30 degrees to about 60 degrees(e.g., about 45 degrees). In some examples, a height of the deflectionaxis 558 (e.g., defining a non-actuated height of the deflection plates550) is located at a vertical distance of about 6 cm to about 18 cm(e.g., about 12 cm) above a center height of the wheels 108. In someexamples, the deflection plates 550 are pivotable downward from anorientation approximately parallel to the planting bed 107 through adeflection angle of about 30 degrees to about 60 degrees (e.g., 45degrees) to push contaminated plants 103 down toward the planting bed107. The deflection angle (e.g., a pre-set parameter) can be input tothe computing device by the operator prior to the harvesting operation.In some examples, the deflection plates 550 are pivotable at an angularvelocity of about 300 degrees per second to about 600 degrees per second(e.g., about 450 degrees per second). In some examples, the deflectionplates 550 are operable to smash contaminated plants 103 down to aheight within a range of about 0.5 cm to about 1.0 cm above the topsurface of the planting bed 107 or to push contaminated plants 103downward a depth in a range of about 0.5 cm to about 2.0 cm beneath thetop surface of the planting bed 107. All or a portion of thecontaminated plants 103 may be pushed into the planting bed 107,depending on the depth. Example materials from which the deflectionplates 550 may be made include tool steel, stainless steel, and othermaterials.

Using the image analyses described above with respect to the plantinspection system 100, the plant inspection system 500 can quicklyprocess large amounts of information to recognize colors and patterns toidentify regions of contamination on surfaces of plants 103. When the PC118 receives an indication (e.g., machine vision views 202, 204 showingone or more identified regions of contamination along with digital imageposition coordinates) that one or more regions of contamination havebeen identified as the plant inspection system 500 moves along theplanting bed 107, the PC 118 sends a control signal to a light stand(omitted from FIG. 8 for clarity) on the plant inspection system 500 toactuate a red warning light within the light stand. The PC 118 alsosends a control signal via the WiFi system 122 to the computing deviceused by the operator of the harvester to display a message on thecomputing device indicating that contamination has been identified. Thered warning light and the message can alert the operator to one or morecontaminated plants 103.

In response to identification of the one or more contaminated plants103, the PC 118 also sends one or more control signals to one or morerespective actuation cylinders associated with respective deflectionplates 550 disposed above the respective one or more contaminated plants103. According to the one or more control signals, the one or moredeflection plates 550 are lowered (e.g., swung downward about thedeflection axis 558) to push the one or more contaminated plants 103downward to smash the one or more contaminated plants 103 atop theplanting bed 107 or to force the one or more contaminated plants 103into the planting bed 107, thereby increasing a space (e.g., a verticaldistance) between the one or more contaminated plants 103 and thecutting blade 109 of the harvester. Meanwhile, non-contaminated plants103 located along the same cross-machine position as the one or morecontaminated plants 103 are severed by the cutting blade 109.

Based on the forward movement of the harvester and the time at which theone or more deflection plates 550 are actuated, the PC 118 determineswhether or not contact was prevented between the cutting blade 109 andthe one or more contaminated plants 103. If contact was successfullyprevented, then the PC 118 sends a control signal to the light stand toactuate a green light (e.g., an “all clear” light) in the light stand.The PC 118 also sends a control signal to the computing device used bythe operator of the harvester to display a message indicating thatcontact was prevented. The green light and/or the message displayed onthe computing device alert the operator to the successful avoidance ofthe one or more contaminated plants 103.

If, on the other hand, the PC 118 determines that contact was madebetween the cutting blade 109 and one or more contaminated plants 103,then the PC 118 sends a control signal to the light stand to actuate ablinking red light. The PC 118 also sends a control signal via the WiFisystem 122 to the computing device used by the operator of the harvesterto display a message indicating that one or more of the contaminatedplants 103 were harvested, that the one or more contaminated plants 103should be removed from the harvester, and that, in some cases (e.g., ifthe contamination is identified as bird feces), that the harvestershould be decontaminated (e.g., disinfected or sterilized) where contactwas made with the one or more contaminated plants 103.

As discussed above with respect to the plant inspection system 100, thePC 118 is programmed to store a log of all machine vision views 202, 204showing regions of contamination, field position coordinates of theregions of contamination, and types of contamination identified. In theplant inspection system 500, the PC 118 is additionally programmed tostore a log of successful and failed attempts to push contaminatedplants 103 down toward the planting bed 107 to prevent contact betweenthe cutting blade 109 and the contaminated plants 103 and dates andtimes at which the attempts occurred. Using the information in the log,the PC 118 can generate a field report at a predetermined time (e.g., atan end of a harvesting operation or at a certain time of the day). ThePC 118 may send the field report to the computing device used by theoperator or to another computing device remote from the harvester andthe plant inspection system 500 via the cellular system 146 so thatactions can be taken by growers of the field. Such actions may includeauthorizing shipment of plant products or holding plant products formanual inspection.

Owing to capabilities of the plant inspection system 500 to illuminate aplanting bed, to identify contaminated plants, to prevent contactbetween a cutting blade and contaminated plants in real time, and toalert an operator of a harvester to an occurrence of harvesting acontaminated plant in real time, the plant inspection system 500 canallow a field to be harvested efficiently and during periods of limitedvisibility (e.g., at night) while avoiding dangerous contamination(e.g., salmonella poisoning resulting from bird feces) of previouslyharvested plants such that food safety is maintained and while avoidingcostly shutdowns and decontaminations of the harvester or of adownstream (e.g., post-harvest) processing line (e.g., at a processingplant).

FIG. 9 displays a flow chart of an example process 600 for inspectingplants (e.g., leafy vegetable plants) disposed along a planting bedusing either of the plant inspection systems 100, 500. As a harvestermoves (e.g., pushes) the plant inspection system along the planting bed,a camera of the plant inspection system generates (e.g., acquires) afirst series of images of a plant (e.g., a leafy vegetable plant)disposed along the planting bed (602). In some examples, the cameragenerates images at a rate of 10 fps, allowing the camera to generatethree images of the plant while the harvester moves the plant inspectionsystem along the planting bed at a predetermined speed (e.g., about 65).While the camera generates the series of images, a light arrayassociated with the camera illuminates the plant, a hood surrounding thelight array blocks environmental light (e.g., sunlight) from impingingupon the plant, and a manipulation device (e.g., a set of air nozzles ora flexible comb) is actuated to move the plant forward and backward toexpose hidden regions of contamination on a surface of the plant.

A processor associated with the camera then identifies a region ofinterest displayed in the first series of images as a region ofcontamination (e.g., feces, disease, rodents, insects, or foreignmatter) on the plant based on a color criterion and a morphologicalcriterion applied to the region of interest (604). For example, theprocessor performs a blob analysis on the images that identifiesportions of the region of interest that share one or more colors bycombining pixels that are adjacent or sufficiently close to each otherand within a certain range of colors into a blob. The processor thendetermines a border around the blob, thereby defining a pattern (e.g., ashape) of the blob. The processor further generates a series of machinevision views associated with the first series of images and displayingthe blob. The morphological criterion may be related to a shape and/or asize of the region of interest.

In response to the processor identifying the region of interest as theregion of contamination, a PC communicably coupled to the processortransmits data including an instruction to increase a vertical distancebetween the plant and a cutter of the harvester to avoid harvesting(e.g., contacting and further severing) the plant (606). In someimplementations, the instruction indicates that the cutter should belifted up from the planting bed. In some implementations, a deflectionplate of multiple deflection plates is selectively actuated to force theplant down towards the planting bed based on the instruction. In someexamples, the deflection plate is selectively actuated by rotating thedeflection plate down towards the plant. In some cases, the plant isflattened atop the planting bed. In other cases, the plant is pusheddown into the planting bed. In some examples, a non-contaminated orotherwise healthy plant adjacent to the plant is harvested while thevertical distance between the plant and the cutter is being increased byselectively actuating a second deflection plate of the multipledeflection plates. In some examples, a vertical distance between thecutter and a second contaminated plant is increased (e.g., byselectively actuating a second deflection plate of the multipledeflection plates) while the vertical distance is being increasedbetween the cutter and the plant.

In some examples, the instruction is associated with an actuation of alight that can alert an operator of the harvester to the region ofcontamination. In some examples, the instruction includes a messagedisplayed on a computing device associated with the harvester (e.g., acomputing device in proximity to the operator of the harvester or acomputing device remote from the harvester). In other cases, theinstruction is a control signal to automatically perform an action(e.g., selectively actuating a deflection plate or lifting the cutter)to increase the distance between the plant and the cutter.

In response to the processor identifying the region of interest as theregion of contamination, the PC also stores a series of machine visionviews associated with the first series of images in association withposition coordinates of the region of contamination (e.g., based on GPScoordinates received from a GPS system) and stores a record of an actiontaken to increase the distance between the plant and the cutter (e.g., alifting action taken by the cutter or a selective rotation of adeflection device). The PC can generate a report including the series ofmachine vision views, the position coordinates of the region ofcontamination, the record of the action, and other information relatedto an identification of the region of interest as the region ofcontamination. Based on an amount of time elapsed between the data beingtransmitted and the action being taken, the PC can determine whether ornot the cutter contacted the plant. If the cutter cleared the plant,then the PC transmits data indicating that it is safe to continueharvesting plants from the planting bed. If the cutter did not clear theplant, then the PC transmits data including an instruction to cease theharvesting operation and to decontaminate one or more portions (e.g.,the cutter and a conveyor) of the harvester.

While the vertical distance between the plant and cutter is beingincreased, the camera generates a second series of images of anadditional plant disposed along the planting bed as the frame continuesto be moved along the planting bed by the harvester (608). In someembodiments, an additional camera mounted to the harvester anddownstream of the cutter generates a third series of images of theadditional plant after the additional plant has been harvested by thecutter and transported to a conveyor belt, as discussed above withrespect to FIG. 7.

While the plant inspection system 500 has been described and illustratedas attachable to a front side of a harvester for use during a harvestingoperation, in some embodiments, a plant inspection system may beattached to a rear side of a tractor to inspect plants prior to aharvesting operation. For example, a pre-harvest operation can becarried out by a plant inspection system that is substantially similarin construction and function to the plant inspection system 500, exceptthat the plant inspection system includes structural features for astandard three-point hitch instead of the connection arms 104.Accordingly, such a plant inspection system also includes the machinevision system 102 (e.g., including the cameras 124, the cameraprocessors 144, the light arrays 126, the panels 128, the hood 130, theupper rail 132, and the lower rail 134), the skirt 136, the frame 106,the wheels 108, the enclosure 110 (e.g., housing the PC 118, the GPSsystem 120, the WiFi system 122, and the cellular system 146), thedeflection plates 550, the manipulation device, the light stand, and thelights supported thereon, as described with respect to the plantinspection system 500 and FIGS. 8 and 9.

The plant inspection system is attached to a rear side of a tractor viathe three-point hitch, such that during a pre-harvest operation, theplant inspection system is pulled along a planting bed 107 in theforward direction 101 by the tractor, with the machine vision system 102located behind the tractor and the deflection plates 550 located behindthe machine vision system 102. In such cases, the deflection angleand/or a stiffness of the deflection plates 550 may be selected suchthat the deflection plates 550 are actuated to push the contaminatedplants 103 downward beneath the top surface of the planting bed 107 toprevent the contaminated plants 103 from erecting above the top surfaceof the planting bed 107 prior to a subsequent harvesting operation thatmay occur 1 hour to 24 hours later.

During a pre-harvest operation, the PC 118 of the plant inspectionsystem determines whether or not one or more contaminated plants 103were successfully pushed down towards or down into the planting bed 107based on the forward movement of the tractor and the time at which theone or more deflection plates 550 are actuated. If the one or morecontaminated plants 103 were not successfully pushed down, then the PC118 sends a control signal to the light stand to actuate the blinkingred light. The PC 118 also sends a control signal via the WiFi system122 to a computing device used by an operator of the tractor to displaya message indicating that the one or more contaminated plants 103 remainand should be manually removed from the planting bed 107 or avoided inreal-time during a subsequent harvesting operation (e.g., using theplant inspection system 100).

During or after a pre-harvest operation, the PC 118 may send a fieldreport to the computing device used by the operator of the tractor or toanother computing device remote from the tractor and the plantinspection system so that actions can be taken by growers of the field.Such actions may include authorizing a subsequent harvesting operation,authorizing shipment of plant products, or holding plant products formanual inspection. Using such a plant inspection system during apre-harvest operation can allow the field to be subsequently harvestedefficiently and during periods of limited visibility (e.g., at night)while avoiding dangerous contamination (e.g., salmonella poisoningresulting from bird feces) of previously harvested plants such that foodsafety is maintained and while avoiding costly shutdowns anddecontaminations of a harvester or of a downstream (e.g., post-harvest)processing line (e.g., at a processing plant).

While this plant inspection system has been described as operable topush contaminated plants 103 downward during a pre-harvest operation, insome embodiments, a plant inspection system includes a removal systemthat severs contaminated plants from a planting bed during a pre-harvestoperation. For example, FIG. 10 displays a perspective view of a plantinspection system 700 that is operable to sever contaminated plants froma planting bed and subsequently transport the contaminated plants awayfrom the planting bed during a pre-harvest operation. The plantinspection system 700 includes structural features for attachment to arear side of a tractor via a three-point hitch (omitted from FIG. 10 forclarity) and is pulled along the planting bed 107 in the forwarddirection 101 by the tractor during the pre-harvest operation.

The plant inspection system 700 includes multiple components of theplant inspection systems 100, 500 that are constructed and operable asdescribed above with respect to FIGS. 1-6, 8, and 9. For example, theplant inspection system 700 includes the machine vision system 102(e.g., including the cameras 124, the camera processors 144, the lightarrays 126, the panels 128, the hood 130, the upper rail 132, and thelower rail 134), the skirt 136, the frame 106, the wheels 108, theenclosure 110 (e.g., housing the PC 118, the GPS system 120, the WiFisystem 122, and the cellular system 146), and a manipulation device(e.g., the flexible comb 138 or the set of air nozzles 142, which isomitted from FIG. 8 for clarity). Additionally, the plant inspectionsystem 700 includes a removal system 760 that is operable to severcontaminated plants 103 from the planting bed 107 and deposit thesevered, contaminated plants 103 in a furrow 105.

The removal system 760 is located behind the machine vision system 102,which is located behind the tractor. The removal system 760 includes aconveyor 762 (e.g., a belt conveyor) and multiple cutting heads 764. Thecutting heads 764 are individually operable to sever contaminated plants103 from the planting bed 107 and transport the severed, contaminatedplants 103 to the conveyor 762. The cutting heads 764 are mounted to oneor more supporting structural components (e.g., rods or othercomponents) and are individually actuated by pneumatic or hydrauliccylinders that are connected to respective, individual solenoid valves(omitted from FIG. 10 for clarity). The cutting heads 764 are arrangedin a row that extends the width of the planting bed 107 behind themachine vision system 102, which is located behind the tractor duringthe pre-harvest operation. Each cutting head 764 includes a knife 766(e.g., a static angled knife, an oscillating single blade knife, or anoscillating double blade knife) that is adapted to sever contaminatedplants 103 from the planting bed 107 and a conveyor 768 (e.g., a beltconveyor) that is operable to transport the severed, contaminated plants103 rearward to the conveyor 762. Each cutting head 764 also includes apaddle wheel 770 that is operable to lift (e.g., pull) the severed,contaminated plants 103 from the planting bed 107 and deliver (e.g.,rotationally transport) the severed plants 103 to the conveyor 768.

The cutting heads 764 are pivotable about a cutting axis 772 along rearends of the conveyors 768. One or more cutting heads 764 can beselectively actuated (e.g., rotated downward about the cutting axis 772)simultaneously or at different times to sever one or more respective,contaminated plants 103 from the planting bed 107. The conveyors 768 ofthe cutting heads 764 transport the severed, contaminated plants 103 tothe conveyor 762, which transports the contaminated plants 103 in adirection 703 (e.g., perpendicular to the forward direction 101) suchthat the contaminated plants 103 are deposited in a furrow 105. In someexamples, foreign material (e.g., debris or other particles) may bedisposed within or atop the plants 103 and be severed and transportedaway from the planting bed 107 along with the plants 103 by the removalsystem 760.

Owing to the selective, individual activation of the cutting heads 764,contaminated plants 103 are removed from the planting bed 107, whilenon-contaminated or otherwise healthy plants 103 disposed along the samecross-machine position (e.g., along a same lateral position across thewidth of the planting bed 107) as the contaminated plants 103 aremaintained and therefore available for a subsequent harvest.Accordingly, use of the cutting heads 764 during a pre-harvest operationcan increase a yield of the plants 103, as compared to lifting thecutting blade 109 (e.g., on the plant inspection system 100) to avoidall of the plants 103 (e.g., both non-contaminated and contaminatedplants 103) located along the same cross-machine position during aharvesting operation. The cutting heads 764 and the conveyor 762 can becleaned (e.g., using a high pressure wash) in place. In some examples,portions (e.g., the machine vision system 102) of the plant inspectionsystem 700 can be moved (e.g., wheeled away) to facilitate cleaning ofthe cutting heads 764 and the conveyor 762.

In some examples, the conveyors 768 of the cutting heads 764 have awidth of about 10 cm to about 20 cm (e.g., about 15 cm) and a length ofabout 40 cm to about 80 cm (e.g., about 60 cm). In some examples, thepaddle wheels 770 of the cutting heads 764 have a diameter of about 6 cmto about 18 cm (e.g., about 12 cm). The paddle wheels 770 may be made ofone or more flexible materials (e.g., urethane) such that the paddlewheels 770 can adapt to manipulate the severed, contaminated plants 103.In some examples, a height of the cutting axis 772 (e.g., defining anon-actuated height of the cutting heads 764) is located at a verticaldistance of about 6 cm to about 18 cm (e.g., about 12 cm) above a centerheight of the wheels 108. In some examples, the cutting heads 764 arepivotable downward from an orientation approximately parallel to theplanting bed 107 through a cutting angle of about 15 degrees to about 45degrees (e.g., 30 degrees) to sever contaminated plants 103 from theplanting bed 107. The cutting angle (e.g., a pre-set parameter) can beinput to the computing device by the operator prior to the inspection.The cutting angle may be selected such that the contaminated plants 103are cut at a distance of about 1.0 cm to about 2.0 cm (e.g., about 1.5cm) above the planting bed 107. In some examples, the conveyor 762 mayhave a length (e.g., along the direction 703) of about 175 cm to about225 cm (e.g., about 200 cm).

Using the image analyses described above with respect to the plantinspection system 100, 500, the plant inspection system 700 can quicklyprocess large amounts of information to recognize colors and patterns toidentify regions of contamination on surfaces of plants 103. When the PC118 receives an indication (e.g., machine vision views 202, 204 showingone or more identified regions of contamination along with digital imageposition coordinates) that one or more regions of contamination havebeen identified as the plant inspection system 700 moves along theplanting bed 107, the PC 118 sends a control signal to a light stand(omitted from FIG. 10 for clarity) on the plant inspection system 700 toactuate a red warning light within the light stand. The PC 118 alsosends a control signal via the WiFi system 122 to the computing deviceused by an operator of the tractor to display a message on the computingdevice indicating that contamination has been identified. The redwarning light and the message can alert the operator to one or morecontaminated plants 103.

In response to identification of the one or more contaminated plants103, the PC 118 also sends one or more control signals to one or morerespective actuation cylinders associated with respective cutting heads764 disposed above the respective one or more contaminated plants 103.According to the one or more control signals, the one or more cuttingheads 764 are rotated downward about the cutting axis 772 to cut andlift the one or more contaminated plants 103. Meanwhile,non-contaminated plants 103 located along the same cross-machineposition as the one or more contaminated plants 103 are maintained forsubsequent harvesting.

Based on the forward movement of the tractor and the time at which theone or more cutting heads 764 are actuated, the PC 118 determineswhether or not the one or more contaminated plants 103 were removed fromthe planting bed 107. If the one or more contaminated plants 103 weresuccessfully removed (e.g., severed and transported to the conveyors768), then the PC 118 sends a control signal to the light stand toactuate a green light (e.g., an “all clear” light) in the light stand.The PC 118 also sends a control signal to a computing device used by theoperator of the tractor to display a message indicating that the one ormore contaminated plants 103 were removed. The green light and/or themessage displayed on the computing device alert the operator to thesuccessful removal of the one or more contaminated plants 103 from theplanting bed 107. If, on the other hand, the PC 118 determines that theone or more contaminated plants 103 were not successfully removed, thenthe PC 118 sends a control signal to the light stand to actuate ablinking red light. The PC 118 also sends a control signal via the WiFisystem 122 to the computing device used by the operator of the tractorto display a message indicating that the one or more contaminated plants103 remain and should be manually removed from the planting bed 107 oravoided in real-time during a subsequent harvesting operation (e.g.,using the plant inspection system 100).

As discussed above with respect to the plant inspection systems 100,500, the PC 118 is programmed to store a log of all machine vision views202, 204 showing regions of contamination, field position coordinates ofthe regions of contamination, and types of contamination identified. Inthe plant inspection system 700, the PC 118 is additionally programmedto store a log of successful and failed attempts to remove contaminatedplants 103 from the planting bed 107 and dates and times at which theattempts occurred. Using the information in the log, the PC 118 cangenerate a field report at a predetermined time (e.g., at an end of apre-harvest operation or at a certain time of the day). The PC 118 maysend the field report to the computing device used by the operator or toanother computing device remote from the tractor and the plantinspection system 700 via the cellular system 146 so that actions can betaken by growers of the field. Such actions may include authorizing asubsequent harvesting operation, authorizing shipment of plant products,or holding plant products for manual inspection.

Owing to capabilities of the plant inspection system 700 to illuminate aplanting bed, to identify contaminated plants, to remove contaminatedplants from a planting bed in real time, and to alert an operator of atractor to a failed attempt to remove a contaminated plant in real time,the plant inspection system 700 can allow a field to be subsequentlyharvested efficiently and during periods of limited visibility (e.g., atnight) while avoiding dangerous contamination (e.g., salmonellapoisoning resulting from bird feces) of previously harvested plants suchthat food safety is maintained and while avoiding costly shutdowns anddecontaminations of a harvester or of a downstream (e.g., post-harvest)processing line (e.g., at a processing plant).

FIG. 11 displays a flow chart of an example process 800 for inspectingplants (e.g., leafy vegetable plants) disposed along a planting bedusing either of the plant inspection systems 500, 700. As a vehicle(e.g., a tractor) moves (e.g., pulls) the plant inspection system alongthe planting bed, a camera of the plant inspection system generates(e.g., acquires) a first series of images of a plant (e.g., a leafyvegetable plant) disposed along the planting bed (802). A processorassociated with the camera then identifies a region of interestdisplayed in the first series of images as a region of contamination(e.g., feces, disease, rodents, insects, or foreign matter) on the plantbased on a color criterion and a morphological criterion applied to theregion of interest (804). In response to the processor identifying theregion of interest as the region of contamination, a plant eradicationdevice of multiple plant eradication devices is selectively actuated toremove the plant from a surface of the planting bed (806).

In some examples, the plant eradication device is a deflection plate,and selectively actuating the plant eradication device includes rotatingthe deflection plate down towards the plant to force the plant down intothe planting bed based on the instruction. In some examples, the planteradication device includes a cutting blade (e.g., a knife) and arotating carrier (e.g., a paddle wheel or a conveyor). Accordingly, insome examples, selectively actuating the plant eradication deviceincludes severing the plant with the cutting blade and transporting theplant away from a location at which the plant is growing with therotating carrier. The plant may then be conveyed (e.g., by a conveyorextending across a width of the planting bed) away from the planting bedin a first direction perpendicular to a second direction in which theframe is being moved along the planting bed by the vehicle.

While the plant eradication device is being selectively actuated, thecamera generates a second series of images of an additional plantdisposed along the planting bed as the frame continues to be moved alongthe planting bed by the vehicle (808). In some examples, anon-contaminated or otherwise healthy plant adjacent to the plant isharvested while the plant is being removed from the surface of theplanting bed. In some examples, a second plant eradication device of themultiple plant eradication devices is selectively actuated to remove asecond contaminated plant from the surface of the planting bed while thefirst plant eradication device is being selectively actuated. Followinginspection of the planting bed and removal of contaminated plants fromthe surface of the planting bed using either of the systems 500, 700during a pre-harvest operation, the planting bed can be subsequentlyharvested during a harvesting operation.

While the plant inspection systems 100, 400, 500, 700 have beendescribed and illustrated as being used to inspect baby green vegetableplants, in some examples, the plant inspection systems 100, 400, 500,700 are used to inspect mature green vegetable plants (e.g., largerleafy vegetable plants). Example mature green vegetable plants that maybe inspected by the plant inspection systems 100, 400, 500, 700 includeiceberg lettuce plants, romaine plants, butter plants, and spinachplants. In some embodiments, a plant inspection system that isconfigured to inspect mature green vegetable plants is similar instructure and function to any of the plant inspection systems 100, 400,500, 700 except that the plant inspection system is modified to includecameras disposed along sides of the plant inspection system to provideimages of sides of the larger plants. In addition to data related toidentified contamination, camera processors of such a plant inspectionsystem may be programmed to provide additional data related to theplants, such as sizes of the plants, locations of the plants, andmaturity of the plants, which can aid in harvesting the plants. A PC ofthe plant inspection system may be programmed to provide additionalfield data related to the plants, such as a total number of plants and adensity of plants. Such a plant inspection system may also includesensors (e.g., laser sensors or acoustic sensors) disposed along sidesof the plant inspection system to profile sides of the plants forprecise determination of center locations of the plants. In someexamples, the plant inspection systems 100, 400, 500, 700 and themodified plant inspection system can be used to examine crops (e.g.,broccoli plants and cauliflower plants) grown in a field and harvestedselectively (e.g., individually).

While a number of examples have been described for illustrationpurposes, the foregoing description is not intended to limit the scopeof the invention, which is defined by the scope of the appended claims.There are and will be other examples, modifications, and combinationswithin the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of operating a plant inspection systemto inspect plants for contamination, the method comprising: generating afirst series of images of a plant disposed along a planting bed at acamera mounted to a frame being moved along the planting bed by aharvester; using a processor associated with the camera to identify aregion of interest displayed in the first series of images as a regionof contamination on the plant based on a color criterion and amorphological criterion applied to the region of interest; in responseto the region of interest being identified as the region ofcontamination, using a controller that is communicably coupled to theprocessor to selectively actuate a plant eradication device of aplurality of plant eradication devices to manipulate the plant in amanner such that contact is avoided between the plant and a cutter ofthe harvester to avoid harvesting the plant; and while the planteradication device is being selectively actuated, generating a secondseries of images of an additional plant disposed along the planting bedat the camera as the frame continues to be moved along the planting bedby the harvester.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the camera comprisesa portion of a machine vision system, the machine vision system beingconfigured to analyze the first and second series of images.
 3. Themethod of claim 2, wherein the machine vision system is configured togenerate first and second series of machine vision views respectivelyassociated with the first and second series of images.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the camera is located forward of the harvester suchthat the camera generates images of plants disposed along the plantingbed before the plants can be severed from the planting bed by thecutter.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising maintaining apredetermined vertical distance between the camera and the planting bed.6. The method of claim 1, further comprising illuminating the plantusing one or more lights associated with the camera while the first andsecond series of images are generated.
 7. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising blocking environmental light from impinging upon the plantand the additional plant while the first and second series of images aregenerated, respectively.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein identifyingthe region of interest comprises performing a blob analysis thatidentifies portions of the region of interest that share one or morecolors and that determines a border around the portions.
 9. The methodof claim 1, wherein the morphological criterion is related to a shape ora size of the region of interest.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein theregion of contamination comprises one or more of fecal matter, disease,rodents, insects, and foreign matter.
 11. The method of claim 1, whereinthe plant comprises a leafy vegetable plant.
 12. The method of claim 11,wherein the leafy vegetable plant comprises a baby green vegetable plantor a mature green vegetable plant.
 13. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising storing a first series of machine vision views associatedwith the first series of images in association with position coordinatesof the region of contamination in response to identifying the region ofinterest as the region of contamination.
 14. The method of claim 1,wherein selectively actuating the plant eradication device of theplurality of plant eradication devices comprises selectively actuating adeflection plate of a plurality of deflection plates to force the plantdown towards the planting bed.
 15. The method of claim 14, whereinselectively actuating the deflection plate comprises rotating thedeflection plate down towards the plant.
 16. The method of claim 14,further comprising flattening the plant atop the planting bed.
 17. Themethod of claim 14, further comprising pushing the plant down into theplanting bed.
 18. The method of claim 1, further comprising harvesting anon-contaminated plant adjacent to the plant while the plant eradicationdevice is being selectively actuated.
 19. The method of claim 1, whereinthe plant eradication device is a first plant eradication device, themethod further comprising selectively actuating a second planteradication device of the plurality of plant eradication devices whilethe first plant eradication device is being selectively actuated. 20.The method of claim 1, wherein the plant eradication device is disposedabove the plant.
 21. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing arecord of an action taken to selectively actuate the plant eradicationdevice.
 22. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating areport comprising information related to an identification of the regionof interest as the region of contamination.
 23. The method of claim 1,further comprising determining whether or not the cutter contacted theplant.
 24. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting datacomprising an instruction to selectively actuate the plant eradicationdevice.
 25. The method of claim 24, wherein the instruction isassociated with an actuation of a light that can alert an operator ofthe harvester.
 26. The method of claim 24, wherein the instructioncomprises a message displayed on a computing device associated with theharvester.
 27. The method of claim 24, wherein the instruction comprisesa control signal to automatically perform an action to selectivelyactuate the plant eradication device.
 28. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising transmitting data comprising a subsequent instruction tocease a harvesting operation and to decontaminate one or more portionsof the harvester.
 29. The method of claim 1, further comprising movingthe plant to expose hidden regions of contamination on the plant whilethe first and second series of images are generated.
 30. A plantinspection system, comprising: a camera that is configured to generate afirst series images of a plant disposed along a planting bed, the cameramounted to a frame being moved along the planting bed by a harvester; aprocessor that is associated with the camera and configured to identifya region of interest displayed in the first series of images as a regionof contamination on the plant based on a color criterion and amorphological criterion applied to the region of interest; and acontroller that is communicably coupled to the processor and configuredto transmit data comprising an instruction to increase a verticaldistance between the plant and a cutter of the harvester to avoidharvesting the plant in response to the processor identifying the regionof interest as the region of contamination, while the camera generates asecond series of images of an additional plant disposed along theplanting bed as the frame continues to be moved along the planting bedby the harvester.
 31. A method of operating a plant inspection system toinspect plants for contamination, the method comprising: generating afirst series of images of a plant disposed along a planting bed at acamera mounted to a frame being moved along the planting bed by aharvester; using a processor associated with the camera to identify aregion of interest displayed in the first series of images as a regionof contamination on the plant based on a color criterion and amorphological criterion applied to the region of interest; in responseto the region of interest being identified as the region ofcontamination, using a controller that is communicably coupled to theprocessor to transmit data comprising an instruction to increase avertical distance between the plant and a cutter of the harvester toavoid harvesting the plant; and while the vertical distance between theplant and the cutter is being increased, generating a second series ofimages of an additional plant disposed along the planting bed at thecamera as the frame continues to be moved along the planting bed by theharvester.
 32. A plant inspection system, comprising: a camera that isconfigured to generate a first series images of a plant disposed along aplanting bed, the camera mounted to a frame being moved along theplanting bed by a harvester; a processor that is associated with thecamera and configured to identify a region of interest displayed in thefirst series of images as a region of contamination on the plant basedon a color criterion and a morphological criterion applied to the regionof interest; a plant eradication device of a plurality of planteradication devices that is mounted to the frame and that, in responseto the processor identifying the region of interest as the region ofcontamination, can be selectively actuated to manipulate the plant in amanner such that contact is avoided between the plant and a cutter ofthe harvester to avoid harvesting the plant, while the camera generatesa second series of images of an additional plant disposed along theplanting bed as the frame continues to be moved along the planting bedby the harvester.
 33. The method of claim 24, further comprisingwirelessly transmitting the data.
 34. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising increasing a vertical distance between the plant and thecutter of the harvester.
 35. The method of claim 1, further comprisingeradicating the plant.
 36. The method of claim 1, further comprisingremoving the plant from a surface of the planting bed.
 37. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising severing the plant with a cutting blade ofthe plant eradication device.
 38. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising transporting the plant away from a location at which theplant is growing with a rotating carrier of the plant eradicationdevice.
 39. The method of claim 38, further comprising conveying theplant away from the planting bed with the rotating carrier in a firstdirection that is perpendicular to a second direction in which the frameis being moved along the planting bed by the harvester.